Eye of the Tiger

привет, (privet, it is an informal hello)
I am going to try and document everything! The time difference is exactly 12 hours so it's 6:00 am Friday morning here and 6:00 Thursday night there in California! You might ask Jessica! Why are you up so early?! Well this is where my story begins...

I left my house at 3 am Wednesday morning. Jaquie, Kenzie, and Gary were over that night and I had decided to stay up all night so that I would just sleep the whole time on the plane. Good plan...in my head at least. I got on the plane headed to Chicago and passed out as soon as I sat down...literally! And side note I scored window seats the whole way! Score!!! Ok so then I wake up when we land and the guy sitting next to me asked me if I was ok. He basically said I looked dead the whole time hahaha nbd thanks for making sure I was ok after I woke up! ;) 

Now I'm in Chicago and I have a 3 hour layover so I have to entertain myself. So I'm thinking stuff I go into the restroom to brush my teeth and yada yada and then...I see the toilets! Self changing seat covers with the wave of of hand! It was amazing! I guess you could say I found some entertainment! (hey cut me some slack! I was super tired and trying not to fall asleep!) ok so skip a few hours, with about 30 min to board I just lay my head down for a sec and before I knew what happened I woke up and they were just finishing boarding my plane! It was a close call I would have been so sad if I missed my plane and had to wait for who know how long...no bueno! When I got on the plane there were the other teachers I would be teaching with. I knew some of them from my training so I was glad that we were able to meet up! We landed in Germany got some German chocolate and then tried to figure out how to make it to our actual plane. We took a few train rides and a bus and they drove us directly up to our plane! Skip a few parts and....

WE ARE IN RUSSIA!!! Flying in it looked really brown! Honestly kind of like when you fly into California! Customs was super easy and quick all are bags were there and when we walked out there was a huge group to greet us! We found out our housing assignments right there and the host families were there ready to take their person. I am living in an apartment with 3 other girls and I really like them all! I am really excited! So we get our bags and walk out to the cars and although I had a jacket on I was dressed for California weather and it wasn't too bad. My hands were cold but it was good! We settled in and went to the grocery store! Normally our host families would feed us but since we are in an apartment we cook for ourselves and then they give us 4000 rubles a month to help with the cost! Shopping for food when you can't read the labels and don't know what the heck it is is awesome! It's all about the adventure! For now I'm gonna stay away from the meats cause idk what is what. It's kinda fun cause I saw stuff like activa and danimals yogurt packaging but the wording was in Russian! Their fruit and veggies here are legit! Not the waxy stuff we get in the states like the carrots and stuff still have the dirt on it. Freshly picked! My mom would be in heaven they have a whole aisle of the store of just cheese! All sorts of types and you get its cut in all different sizes. Bread and pastries and pies are big here and they bake them fresh! It's really neat! 

Ok! So Russia is a definite walking country at least st. Petersburg and its cold but not bad I just need to wear gloves and get some scarves cause your face and hands are what feel it. There is tons of ice! It's only a matter of time before I slip and fall idk how the women here wear stilettos all the time! They are amazing and stunning! Generally speaking the women here are beautiful and the men I have seen so far are scary! But all the russians have been so nice! They are very warm hearted and willing to help! 

We came home from the grocery store which by the way you pay for grocery bags here I thought that was interesting put the groceries away and we were so tired but they told us not to go to sleep til 9! We had about two hours to go and we were just sitting there talking and laughing historically...ok so maybe I was laughing at them laughing at me! We were all tired anyways I ended up going to be about 8:30 and I passed out but then I woke up at 3:00 and haven't been able to sleep since! Same with my roommate so yeah we have officially been jet lagged! 

So one thing I never expected to be in Russia was too hot but here the government regulates when the heat gets turned on and off and so in our apartment it's boiling! Crazy huh? We finally opened our balcony window to get some airflow in here! Well I have an hour and a half before I have to get up so I'm hoping all this writing will have tired me out a bit! I can't promise that I will talk this much every time but if you made it to the end of this congrats! Hahaha love you 

Джессика